Between Gray and Gold
by Astreich689
Summary: If you screw around with a plot, lots of things can happen. Take this: What if Itachi never died? What if project Tsuki no Me was just a cover story of Madara's? What if the fate of every human being rested on the shoulders of just one Hyuuga man?
1. Prologue:

PROLOGUE:

The Hokage looked sadly down at the four children gathered so naively in front of his desk. Three were pale boys, with the same dark brown hair and silver, mesmerizing eyes as their father. They were tackling one another and laughing good-naturedly as they waited to be spoken to, unable to detect or be affected by the sad ambiance that filled the room. The fourth child was a girl. She stood away from the group, staring at the floor in utter silence. Long golden locks cascaded from her head and tapered off at around the small of her back, drowning out the beauty of her starry Hyuuga eyes with their own. Kami knows that the eye and hair colors didn't match in the slightest, but she was still strikingly pretty besides the fact. It would've been a long shot to say that she and the boys were related, however, and he doubted that somebody would bet money on it.

The Hokage was almost terrified of the fact that she was seeing the difference in herself more and more every day. The fact that she didn't fit in with her _own family, _for one. He noticed with slight worry that she was edging away from her siblings, still looking at the floor. The message coming from their little group was clear: _We don't want you here._ Children, he knew, could sometimes become more judgmental than their parents. They needed no reason to hurt or exclude someone, just a little outside motivation. Over the past few weeks, the reports had been coming in a steady flow from the Academy teachers. The girl had perfect scores, perfect behavior, perfect understanding, but no friends. Others would never let her take part in their games or laugh at their jokes, or even come near them. Rumors were created, then spread, and no one dared to like "the Hyuuga girl."

Pretty soon she would begin to question herself, why she even existed. The Hokage knew this feeling, and in looking down at the quiet little child, he saw his old self, the one nobody would ever befriend. The pain in those averted eyes was intense. She didn't understand the hatred directed toward her from all sides, and only felt what the people around her made her feel. At an early age of seven, she still didn't understand the meaning of hatred, but it was only a matter of time.

When she began to hate, she would also begin to wonder, and search for answers. It was _imperative_ to the safety of Konoha that she did not find out who her real mother was on her own. The truth could be interpreted in any way, and the answers she'd find would only be the wrong ones. _Traitor. Akatsuki. NineChild. _Whatever she would find out from the village would be opinionated and biased, and only pain would spark and erupt into flames in her mind from it. She could be dangerous, after all. What her mother had may have been passed down to her daughter through the blood in their veins.

Laughter from the three boys interrupted his thoughts. "Hey, Kaori, what'd the Hokage call us in here for? Did you use the Eight Trigrams on some innocent civilian _again?" _The girl gave no verbal reaction, but her hands balled into fists, and she clenched her teeth together, still looking at the carpet.But the Hokage cleared his throat. While musing about life of this poor child, he'd forgotten why he had summoned the four to his office.

He hadn't realized it until now, but it was blissful to forget it. As the thought of doing what he now had to do sank in, a guilty weight settled once more on his chest, making it harder to breath. He knew he had to tell the four of them. They had every right to know what had happened. He just didn't know how to break it to them so they'd understand. The Hokage found it especially hard to deal with the young children, their parents victims of the cruel shinobi world. The hurt that filled their eyes, the shock that covered their faces, it was almost too much to bear. But his duty as Hokage forced him to continue.

He now looked down at them once again, preparing to speak, his mind frantically searching for a way to make the truth less painful. The little girl was the only one who noticed that something was wrong at all. She was looked back and forth from the Hokage to her brothers with a nervous expression on her face. _She catches on,_ he thought. _Just like her senseis say she does._ The mistrustful gaze landed on his tall form behind the desk once again, and without meaning to do it, he shivered. Her mother filled her face in every aspect, from the high cheekbones and slender almond eyes to her thin lips and pointed chin. The gold that was woven into her hair only strengthened the impression that he was looking into the woman's dead face. Suddenly the memory bloomed in front of his eyes, escaping the back of his mind where he'd imprisoned the horrific image.

_It had been bloody. Red streaked from the corner of her mouth and pooled by her cheek, mixing with the brown of the soil underneath it. Her eyes stared longingly, desperately into the distance, the life and energy, and even the everpresent pain gone from them. The beautiful hair, characteristic only of her, now lay tangled and matted around her face, hiding her mangled features. Blood still trickled slowly from claw marks on her arms and legs, although hours had passed already. Her hands were clenched into tight fists, never to open again._

_How had it happened to her?_

_The numb expression on his friend's face, with the rays of the rising sun just barely illuminating the forest around them, was haunting. He had fallen to his knees, unmoving, eyes wide in shock. Shock and pain. The shining silver orbs, sometimes laughing, sometimes serious, were reduced to dry wells of pain. They shed no tears, no emotion. Days passed, then weeks, but the horror-stricken look never left his eyes. It seemed as though he'd be lost forever, not feeling, not caring about the world. The world not caring about him. Before the young Hokage's eyes, he deteriorated and shrank and became nothing, wanted to be nothing, wanted everything to go away._

He closed his eyes and tried to force the memory back down again, as it threatened to overwhelm him. One of his closest friends, one of the people he could trust with anything, rely on the most, had been close to lifeless. It had hurt him to see Neji that way. He'd always known how to get on his nerves and drive him near crazy through his quiet, serious, common sense way of life, and to see this unresponsive shell of his old self had hurt the Hokage badly. But out of the depths of his misery, there had come a child. She had tossed him a rope and dragged him out of that deep well, even a little forcefully, until he regained himself.

The Hokage owed his friendship with a close comrade to the sorrowful little girl that stood in front of him. He shivered again, breaking the hold of the bad memory.

The girl had noticed his shiver as their eyes made contact, and she dropped them quickly to the floor again. She could sense the discomfort coming off of him in waves. Even the Hokage hated her. He probably wanted her dead, just like the rest of the world. It hurt, but she carried this invisible burden one her shoulders, with head held high. She wanted with all her heart to shrug it off, dismissing it as stupid that people hated her for a reason even _she _didn't comprehend.

But when she tried, they were there again, reminding her that it was her job to be hated, misunderstood. She would even accept it, if only she knew why. What was the reason behind the suffering? Did the villagers find it fun to torture her and her alone, or was there really some ulterior motive guiding their actions? Her father was kind to her, getting her the toys she wanted and reading to her at night and sitting with her until she fell asleep. She trusted him and loved him, but whenever she had come home crying, asking him why things had to be the way they were, he only shushed her and stroked her bright wavy locks until she was silent again.

Her mother was gentle and always smiled that tired smile of hers, telling her that things would be alright. But how could things be alright if even her brothers, whom she _lived with, _were turned against her existence? The questions only flowed and multiplied, never answered, and she wanted those answers badly. She wanted to know what had made her life hell, and how she could get out of it.

Her palms began to bleed as she dug her nails into them fiercely, savoring the pain and wishing that it was all there was to it, just a cut that would heal and nothing more.

By then, the Hokage had made up his mind. He stood and stepped around his hard oakwood desk, sitting down on the floor in front of the children. Slightly confused, they followed his lead and folded their legs to make room for a circle. The girl sat back a little ways from the rest of them, suddenly wary of this change of positions. She glanced up at the Hokage questioningly (quickly, so he couldn't see it), but all she saw was an emotionless mask that hid everything from the world.

"I'm going to tell all of you about something," he began. "Something you all have the right to know. Something the history books of Konoha will never teach you."

"Is it about Kaori pummeling people in the market place?" one of the boys commented, bringing loud sniggers from the grinning mouths of the other two.

"No, your sister has no part in this story. It all started about twenty years back-"

"This is starting to sound _awesome,_" interrupted another, the youngest of the trio. The others shushed him and waited for the Hokage to continue. The girl said nothing, glad the attention was not focused on her shoulders for once. But this whole idea was making her nervous, very nervous indeed. For, the more she thought about it, the more her suspicions seemed true. A Kage wasn't supposed to tell children stories in the middle of a war, he or she should be planning and fighting for a win. Something had to be wrong, very wrong, for him to waste his time on people like _her._

But try as she might resist the urge to listen, the voice of the Hokage was tugging at her ears for attention. It was strong and calming, a voice worth listening to.

And when she began to listen, she was pulled into the story faster than you could say "shinobi," forgetting the world around her.


	2. Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE:

"No, no, I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry! Just don't hurt me!"

"You owe us a bunch of money, whoever you are!"

"I know, I just - I just don't have the money! I'm s-sorry!" The tall lean teenager sank to his knees. It was all over unless they were distracted somehow, these leaf ninja.

Idate looked around desperately, but just out of the corner of his eye in hope that they wouldn't notice. He was trapped amid the trees, up against the trunk of one with nowhere left to back up: the ninja had him surrounded. He could sense their presence behind and ahead of him, perched on the thicker branches or crouched on the ground, hiding in the deepest shadows where his untrained eyes would never find them. The only one that was showing himself was the blond dressed in bright orange. Stupid for a ninja, to wear fluorescent colors. If you wanted to camouflage, you had to be as dark as the woods, as brown as the field grasses themselves, as tan as the sand of the desert. He wasn't qualified for any of the situations.

"Last chance, you punk! Pay up, or you'll pay _my_ way!" The orange one again. The one that wouldn't shut up. The idiot was giving him a headache.

But in dismissing this kid, classifying him as _non-dangerous,_ Idate was nearly unable to dodge the shuriken that was flung in his face. The ninja must have reached into his pack in less than an instant, or his eyes would've caught the movement. With reflexes and stunning speed like that, Idate decided not to take his chances. Leaning back and staring wide eyed at the throwing star's quivering form in the tree, however, there was no way he would've been able to know that even if he hadn't tried to twist away, it would've missed.

Mentally, Idate surrendered. He couldn't pay them, and he couldn't get away. They were ninja. If he tried to run, he'd get a shuriken through his stomach within a matter of seconds. The mistake he'd made had proved to be a very costly, even life-threatening one. He hadn't known his was leaving his bill to _ninjas. _He supposed it was stupid of him to not notice the hitai-ate they were wearing on their foreheads, but he had never really been the type to notice details. But he had really gotten himself in trouble this time, any way he looked at it, and he couldn't count on Boss Jirocho to come and save his butt again. He didn't know what level the ninja hidden in the trees were. They had to be higher up than the idiot, anyway. He could only pray that they'd cut him some slack since he really had no cash on him, not a single ryou.

"I-I can't pay you. I don't have enough money to cover the restaurant bill." A hint of desperation crept into his voice, even though he didn't know it. He didn't want them to hurt him, was all. He'd been through too much for that to be added on top. Unconsciously, he reached for the pocket knife the Boss had given him. It was the thing that had comforted him over the past few years, kept him sane. _It's intention isn't to hurt people, Idate,_ he had said. Well, it would if it had to.

"A-ha! Give us that thing! What is it, anyway?" asked the orange one, waving at his brown pocket knife, which he now clenched in his hand. Idate cringed, and clutched the knife closer to his body. There was no way they were getting _that_. They'd have to kill him first.

"No! I can't give you it, this is mine!" Now Idate was getting angry. He couldn't get pushed around like this by that _loser_. There was no way. If he couldn't get out of this, couldn't beat _him, _then he really was worthless after all, something he'd been telling himself he wasn't for a long time.

Quick as he could, Idate got to his feet while dislodging the shuriken from the tree. Then he hurled it as hard as it would go at the orange ninja. The boy cried out in pain as it grazed his shoulder, but he had managed to leap mostly out of the way. Otherwise it would've been a deadly shot, though it had been years since Idate had last even looked upon a throwing star.

But when the ninja looked back up from the ground, Idate was gone. The distraction had worked.

"Naruto! Are you okay?" Sakura's voice wafted down through the trees somewhere on his left. Then she was beside him, scanning the forest in every direction to see where that Idate guy had gone (so she'd fallen for it too. HAH! At least he wasn't the only one again . . .). Either that, or she was still trying to find Sasuke. The show-off had hidden himself so well (again) that no eye without a kekkei genkai of some sort could've found him. Why did he always have to be so naturally good at everything? It was hardly fair. Some people actually had to work their butts off to be ninjas.

"Now, now he's _in for it!_ Did you see that, Sakura? That guy who was flirting with you in the restaurant ten minutes ago _just tried to KILL me!" _Naruto growled.

"Well then, _maybe_, you should just let it go." Sasuke dropped down noiselessly (_as usual_) on his right. "Some guys don't like to be messed with, Naruto. But of course someone like you probably would never understand that kind of thing."

"Yeah, Sasuke's right," chimed in Sakura. That only worsened Naruto's mood. Why did she always have to go and say that? Sasuke's right, Sasuke's perfect, Sasuke this, Sasuke that, all the time. It was all that ever came out of her mouth.

"I take it you're not going to listen to me, though. In that case, he went that way," Sasuke gestured coolly to a direction vaguely to the right. He looked so bored, he could've yawned. And yet, he was the only one who had seen right through the distraction.

"This guy's mine!" yelled Naruto. He grabbed his injured shoulder and ran hard to the right. After all, he wanted his money back. And there was a lot of it, too.

_I'm losing them, I'm losing them, I'm - gah!_

The root had come out of nowhere. One second the ground was solid in front of him and the next his foot was trapped between coarse bark and unyielding ground. Idate let out a startled yelp as he fell forward, and barely managed to catch himself in time.

Well, that was gonna hurt tomorrow.

_Oh - oh no. I've wasted too much time! No! They're on my tail right now, I know it, and I just _wasted_ my distraction! There's no way I'll outrun them now!_

That was his second mistake of the day. And he _never_ made more than one a day. Suddenly, he felt something coming on, something bad. Whatever it was, it was worse than the threat of a few genin-level ninja. He shivered, but forgot about it almost immediately. That was just about the least of his troubles. He had to focus on the task at hand instead of giving in to his animal instincts, which tended to be wrong.

The outlook really wasn't good at all, Idate realized when he tried to lift himself up for a final stand but couldn't. He must've twisted his ankle on that (stupid) root, because it kept giving out and hurting to hell and back when he tried to put any weight on it. Oh, not good, not good. His legs and his speed had been Idate's only defenses.

"A decorative pocket knife against a kunai will turn out to be completely useless," he muttered to himself as he finally (painfully) got to his feet.

"You got THAT right!" yelled the orange ninja, charging him from the front, launching himself with a kunai outstretched at Idate. "Pay up!"

_What is he - is he actually going to k-kill me? _Idate's eyes took in the kunai and the look on the ninja's face, fear taking over. He had no time to twist out of the way. It didn't matter whether he had trained his reflexes to perfection or not, his body was just too slow to respond to his thought.

_Ba-bump, ba-bump._

Idate's heart was pounding. What to do, what to do? His hand had raised his knife up in front of his face without any commands from the mind once again, in a feeble attempt to defend him. The action was a subconscious last resort, a kind of desperation. Idate just didn't want to die, that was all. Not yet.

Putting up the knife was his third mistake. Most likely, the thin metal could crack or bend from the force the kunai put on it. It wouldn't help with much anyway.

_This feels like a lamb going up against a dragon. Those kinds of odds never end up well. For the lamb at least._

_Ba-bump, ba-bump._

Aww, what a day this had turned out to be. Rotten stroke of luck. He'd made mistake after mistake. Not only would he lose his life, his gift from the Boss would also be ruined.

_Ba-bump, ba-bump._

Idate wasn't ready to die that day. He had given up, not yet understanding that the young ninja was not actually going to hurt him. He wasn't the type to kill about stupid things like these. But the fear was real, and he couldn't quench it. His eyes were widening and his lips parted slightly in shock. But, though he didn't know it, Idate was closely watched by Kami, and the god disliked it when anyone hurt the boy. So he sent him a miracle.

"Back off!" screamed a different voice, not one of the ninja, but someone else.

The next thing any of them knew, the orange ninja was pinned against a beech tree by his neck, and _she_ was there.

**Hey guys! Yup, this is my very first fanfiction story ever, and I thought long and hard before deciding to do this. I'd REALLY appreciate a few reviews to see how I'm doing with this story, because to tell the truth, I dunno what people want to read . . . Well, as you can see, it starts off in the Todoroki Shrine Race Arc (cuz I really enjoyed that one . . .), but from this point on, it'll be my own interpretation of the story, and the basic Naruto plot will have a HUGE twist added in later. Also, I have a few OC's in there, including the Lost Uchiha and the End of the World character, so I hope you enjoy. Whether you really love it, or superbly hate it, PLEASE REVIEW! (yes, I'm absolutely desperate right now =)**


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